Spring Break Part III

Have you heard of Hoagie Haven? To put it in context, I would say that Hoagie Haven is to New Jersey as the Shake Shack is to nyc. It's tiny with a comfortable no-frills vibe to it, and no one seems to know when it got as popular as it is now. After hearing Georgetown Princetonians speak about this place in awed tones for a couple of months, I decided to make a pilgrimage to New Jersey over spring break to see for myself.





Was this a chicken gyro?

The Dirty Sanchez- fried chicken cutlet, deep-fried mozzarella sticks, and french fries on a hoagie, drenched with special sauce. Derrick made his "extra dirty" with more sauce, which tasted suspiciously like thousand island dressing with a bit of spice added to it. I ended up eating half of it and feeling rather ill but content, like a man on his deathbed.

The Heart Stop - bacon, steak, cheese, and assorted vegetables on a hoagie. I hate bacon with a crackling passion. I didn't really like this one too much.

So you might be wondering what my conclusion is to the question, "Does Hoagie Haven live up to the hype?". It does in some ways and doesn't in others. This sounds way too ambiguous but let me explain... At its core, stripped of greasy accoutrement and creatively dubbed sauces, a hoagie is a sandwich. If your first time trying Hoagie Haven is after a house party, sitting with your friends on the curb, still half drunk and clutching at the fat hoagie trying not to let the grease drip off the paper wrapper onto your lap, there's definitely going to be a special place for these hoagies in your heart. Nostalgia makes everything taste better.

Here's a little side note to Hunterites...do you all remember the deli across the street from Starbucks? Everyone used to go there for their morning coffee before it closed (I think it was due to health violations? Eek!). There was something about the proportion of steaming hot coffee to milk that the Korean lady behind the counter got just right...Do you remember getting on the 6 hoping that it would somehow magically go express until 96th street so that you would have an extra couple of minutes to go swing by the deli and grab a coffee and perhaps a glowing green pistachio muffin? Or was that just me? Now that I think about it, I really miss those kryptonite muffins. I hate the sad excuses for muffins here at school...they're these limp, cupcake-like things with tops brown from food coloring rather than a crisp crust. I got off track a bit, but yes, nostalgia does make everything taste better.

And back to more fooding in Princeton.

This is the Bent Spoon, a quaint little ice cream shop in town.

The eerily-illuminated ice cream and gelato selection.

Cupcakes!!!!



For some reason, all of the photos I took of the ice cream post-scooping turned out like dairy mug shots...they look strange and unappetizing, so I won't force you to look at them here.

And for breakfast the next day, we went to PJ's Pancake House!


It kind of felt like a bar inside...but instead of serving drinks they serve flapjacks.

I have read the writing on the wall. haha I kid...

Armando's chocolate chip pancakes. He groaned and clutched his stomach after eating them.

Derrick's lumberjack platter.

And the hand of God descends to butter Derrick's pancakes.

My buckwheat pancakes. This was actually my first time trying them, but I've been curious about them ever since I read a mention in Little House on the Prairie. They were as rustic and delicious as I had hoped they would be.

Hoagie Haven
242 Nassau St
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 921-7723

The Bent Spoon
35 Palmer Sq W
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 924-2368

Pj's Pancake House
154 Nassau St
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 924-1353

Spring Break Part II

It's almost Easter break but I still have so many photos left from Spring Break that I have to post about! I can never seem to catch up with myself...

Prune- Sarah and I met up here for an early lunch...I was actually the first customer of the day and other than a food photographer doing a photoshoot, the restaurant was deserted. I went on a weekday and therefore didn't get to try the brunch, which I've heard is quite delicious.

And here she is, the food photographer with her super-swanky camera.

The interior with Sarita in the corner.

Kafei.

Crisp cod in saffron broth with cabbage, leeks, and potatoes.

And that was Prune.

Later that day after meandering through Central Park, taking lots of group shots, and pressing our noses against the glass exhibits at AMNH (dinosaurs!!!), Johnny, Sarah, Sun, Edwin, and I went to Havana Central for dinner. Union Square is super convenient to get to from most points in Manhattan and our waiter didn't card us, both of which very good reasons to visit Havana.

Very Cuban.



I think that this was mango-glazed salmon. Was it delicious? Most likely, yes.

Pork and yellow rice.

Arroz con pollo.

Mood lighting. Sexy.

This dinner happened so long ago that I can barely remember anything worth mentioning...To put it briefly, we were drop-dead tired from roaming in the cold weather and the food was nice, hot, and rejuvenating.

Prune
54 E 1st St # 1
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-6221

Havana Central
151 W 46th St
New York, NY 10036
(212) 398-7440

Gateau Basque

I haven't put up a recipe in a while because I'm finding it almost impossible to bake anything at Georgetown. Without my usual pans, books, and baking gizmos I feel so crippled and helpless...unable to whip up a meringue or even roll out a batch of cookie dough when I feel like it. It makes me very sad and might account for some of my unhappiness thus far. There are a few things that I have to keep in my life to stay sane/functioning and baking is definitely one of them...

Thank goodness that I had the time to make Gateau Basque several times this week in all of its glorious variations! Hooray~



Here is the recipe as adapted from the Zen Chef at chefsgonewild.blogspot.com

Dough:
250 grams flour
125 grams sugar
125 grams butter
25 grams almond flour
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 egg
1 pack yeast
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange

Pastry Cream:
1/2 Liter Milk
3 egg yolks
100 grams sugar
50 grams flour
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp rum (optional)

For the pastry cream:
Scrape the vanilla bean, removing its precious seeds and whisk into the milk. Heat to a rolling boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the yolks turn a pastel yellow and have grown quite a bit in volume. Fold in the flour into the egg yolk mixture carefully until fully incorporated. Now combine the hot milk mixture and the beaten egg yolks. (Remember to be extremely careful at this step- you don't want to risk curdling your eggs! Because the milk is considerably hotter than the egg yolks, you should add a small ladleful of milk to the egg yolks while whisking quickly. The goal is to bring the temperatures of the two mixtures closer together so that there is no separation of the different components.) Place the mixture back on the flame and heat until nearly boiling. The consistency of the mixture will gradually become a custard. Add the rum and take off the flame. Cool for several hours until it reaches room temperature.

For the dough:
Combine the flour, sugar, butter. zest, yeast, and almond flour in a large bowl. Mix gently until the dough resembles sand and then add the egg and almond extract. Combine until the mixture just comes together. Chill for 30 minutes until the dough isn't quite so sticky and is more manageable. Press into the pan of your choice.

Fill the pan with the cooled pastry cream and top with the fruits of your choice. Gateau Basque is traditionally made with either jam or pastry cream, but I like the added texture and flavour of a few preserved fruits scattered here and there. Cover the pan with a round of dough, press the edges together to make a seal, and then make a small steam vent at the very center of the gateau. If you have time you can also cut a pretty pattern into the top :) Brush with an egg yolk diluted in water and then bake at 375 degrees F until golden brown (approximately 30 minutes depending on the size of your pan).


Here is one filled with pastry cream and diced preserved plums. I also changed the dough recipe a bit, using a combination of brown and white granulated sugar, increasing the ratio of almond flour to regular flour, and substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour. I wanted the almond taste to be a bit stronger without the artificial floweryness that's characteristic of a liberal use of almond extract...I think it worked out well.

A package.

Spring Break Part I

I can't believe that break has gone by so quickly! I feel like I should be in mourning garb, lamenting the end of our freedom. In any case, I have a ton of fooding photos for all of you, so here they are!

My mom and I went to lunch a couple of days ago at a fairly inexpensive noodle house in Flushing.

I ordered omurice, which turned out to be roughly the size of a football.

My mom ordered jjajangmyun- noodles in brown sauce. Although the picture looks rather unappetizing, I can wholeheartedly vouch for the tastiness of this dish. Don't let it sewage-like appearance deceive you!

My mom made crab eyes with her hands...

And I followed her example...or was it the other way around?

These were bits of rice cake dipped in sugar cooked to a hard caramel stage. Normally, I deeply respect the idea of making do with what one already has - i.e. cooking with the limited ingredients that are available- but I don't think that this principle really applies to restaurants. Why bother to make untasty food that no one wants to eat?

A few days later, Johnny, Sarah, Kelvin and I wandered around Chinatown in search of edibles.

Hello, Chinatown! Looking at this photo, you can understand why I was upset with the pathetic block that passes for a Chinatown in DC, right?

And again. Am I being too bitter?

We made our first stop at Ten Ren for delicious drinks and small bowls of noodles. It was rather nippy outside and the hot milk teas were greatly appreciated.

Sarah studies the brief menu in by the eerily glowing wall.

Hot almond and taro milk teas.

We then made our way across the street to Egg Custard King Cafe, king of egg custards!


The crabby Chinese woman at the counter told me to put my camera away, so I was left with no choice but to take sneaky photos whenever she turned her back. They set out a lovely tray of multicolored egg tarts that I couldn't resist capturing.

Buns at Fay Da Bakery.

Ten Ren Tea Time
79 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 732-7178

Egg Custard King Cafe
76 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 226-8208

Fay Da Bakery
327 Canal Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 219-0778

Rasika

**I wrote most of this entry before break started but didn't have the heart to rewrite it, so I am posting it as is.**

I am so thrilled for spring break. I'm not doing anything special, per se, but I'm going back home and that is good enough for me. I want to read until my eye sockets burst and spill out words, drink countless cups of tea, sew buttons and labels onto things, and in general, have everything be quiet for once. Don't you guys miss that about home? Having mornings when you wake up to an empty house but find warm grinds in the coffee-maker and the traces of people hurriedly leaving, and feel hummingly, perfectly happy? Or is that just me? I read recently that Brahmin children in India used to be woken by their parents while it was still dark to recite poetry in anticipatory thanksgiving of the coming day. Maybe they still do this...I should go investigate for myself. Hurray for break!!!

DC Restaurant Week ended on the 22nd but I was fortunate enough to tag along to Rasika. Being entirely ignorant of DC, I had never heard of Rasika before, but Google proved to be handy as usual and turned up a ton of praise for its reinterpretation of Indian cuisine. I was super psyched and it did not disappoint!

To tell the truth, I didn't take this photo, but I wanted to give a general idea of the interior. My own photos from dinner didn't capture how tempted I was to paw at the crystals hanging over our table.

Glasses.

The Parsi lamb cutlet-minced lamb with cilantro and ginger and served on top of a spicy tomato sauce. For some reason, this tasted so Korean to me that I was tempted to order some rice...

Scallops! I don't remember anything about this other than that the scallops tasted very alive.

And once again,my limited knowledge of Indian cuisine and poor memory fail me...this is a curry. That is all I can say.

Our table with my entree in the foreground. Black cod with dill, honey, star anise, and red wine vinegar. The reason why I can rattle off these ingredients with confidence is that Rasika (bless them!) included my entree on their restaurant week meny, conveniently placed online. This also tasted very alive and fresh, as if I were eating a baby black cod.

Carrot salwa with cinnamon sabayon. I wish I hadn't been so full by the time the dessert was served. I felt like a little piece of my heart died when I pushed back the plate after just a few bites, forced by my stomach to wave the cowardly white flag of surrender. My dessert made me the happiest out of all the ones we tried...the rice pudding tasted like a peasant's breakfast.

The green tea ice cream. Notice how the blackberry on the left of the plate is the same length as the strawberry on the right side. Have you ever seen a blackberry that big???

We had an amazing dinner that night- it's just too bad that I forgot a lot of what I wanted to say about the food. In any case, I don't think that the restaurant made any negative impressions on me, so I recommend it 110%!

Rasika
633 D Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Post-Valentine's Day Aftermath...

This is hardly the best way to begin a post, but I really can't get over the fact that I'm awake right now. It's barely 9 in the morning and everyone else appears to be sound-asleep in their beds-hair matted and shoes tossed haphazardly on the floor. I hope that you all had a lovely Valentine's Day, with or without a Valentine.

Is it just me, or do you guys do this too? After major holidays I like going to CVS/Eckerd/Duane Reade/what have you and buying massive, massive quantities of candy related to that holiday at ridiculously cheap prices. So yea....if you happen to venture out today, I'll be helping CVS clean out its Valentine's Day inventory like the good consumer that I am.

So yesterday, Eunae, Hayato, Andrew and I went to Ten Ren's Tea Time in college park (the word "ten ren" of course meaning "a place that makes super awesome bubble tea with pearls soaked in honey and happy high school memories"). I had no idea that Ten Rens existed outside of ny! After living in DC for a while I realized that there weren't any good bubble tea places near Georgetown. I even went to Chinatown in search of roast pork buns and bubble tea but the only bakery-like establishment happened to have newspapers strewn on the floor and the bubble tea I had was somewhat gritty and strange. Deprived of my buns and boba, I was not a happy camper. Now that I have excellent bubble tea a mere metro ride away, my life is a little more complete. Just a bit.

Inside Ten Ren's.

My roast pork bun. Now that I think about it, "pork bun" may have been the first Chinese word I ever learned...

Fried cheese wontons. I'm not sure why but I felt kind of stressed while eating these...it might have been the act of biting into them with the knowledge that there was dangerously hot, oozy cheese inside. 0___0

Kung Pao tofu with peanuts and...corn? For some reason all the entrees came with a little scoop of canned corn.

Hayato ordered this but I don't recall exactly what it was...something with chicken?

Tonkatsu!

General Tso's.

The spread.

The sad thing about this photo is that I can't tell whether or not my eyes are closed.

Andrew and Eunae intently drinking their bubble tea.

Eunae's lychee bubble tea. It didn't come with the fuzzy glow and the small star attached to it, but this is how I felt when I drank it. It was so wonderfully delicious that I wanted to weep lychee tears.

Wow I started this post at 9 and it's taken me a full hour to get to this point. Anyway, please visit Ten Ren's and try their bubble tea! I mean, it made me want to weep lychee tears and I'm not someone who is usually overcome by waves of emotion like that.
Au revoir!

Ten Ren's Tea Time
7418 BALTIMORE AVE
COLLEGE PARK, MD 20740
(301) 864-8920